Heretofore, in connection with disposable wearing articles, such as disposable pants, there has been proposed one type comprising a leg opening formed in a crotch zone located between an abdominal-side front zone and a dorsal-side rear zone, and an absorbent body disposed on a skin-side surface of the crotch zone, wherein two pairs of lateral edges of the abdominal-side front zone and the dorsal-side rear zone are fusion-bonded and joined together (so-called “side-sealed”) (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 09-56746).
There has also been proposed a disposable diaper comprising a first mechanical fastener (fastening member) attached to each of opposite lateral edges of either one of an abdominal-side front zone and a dorsal-side rear zone of a cover sheet, and a second mechanical fastener attached to each of opposite lateral edges of a remaining one of the abdominal-side front zone and the dorsal-side rear zone, wherein the first mechanical fastener is adapted to be detachably engageable with the second mechanical fastener.
The disposable pant designed to side-seal an abdominal-side front zone and a dorsal-side rear zone of a cover sheet, as disclosed in the above Patent Publication 1, is excellent in peel strength. On the other hand, it involves a problem that, if a wearer tears a side portion of the pant and opens the abdominal-side front zone to discharge his/her urine or the like in an urgent situation, he/she has to change the pant to new one on the scene because the side portion cannot be re-attached.
While the disposable wearing pant designed to engage between an abdominal-side front zone and a dorsal-side rear zone of a cover sheet by means of a mechanical fastener allow an engaging/disengaging operation to be repeatedly performed, it involves a problem about poor engagement strength which is liable to cause loose in engagement and sagging of the pant during long-term use.
In view of the above problems, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a disposable wearing article adapted to be usable in a pant-like configuration in a normal situation, and to allow a side portion or the like, which is torn in an urgent situation, to be temporarily re-engaged using a fastening member so as to maintain a pant-like configuration until it is changed to a new wearing article.